


Indah

by rinnenotsubasa



Series: At the Heart of the Sea [2]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Fantasy, M/M, Mystery, but at heart it's boy meets boy, but there's no mermaid LOL, ish, meanie friendship, mermaid au, other relationships won't be tagged to not spoil
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-13
Updated: 2017-08-20
Packaged: 2018-06-08 04:01:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6838273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rinnenotsubasa/pseuds/rinnenotsubasa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sea turtle said with a voice filled with awe, “What is that?”<br/>“You don’t know?” Starfish gasped. “It’s called <i>human</i>.”</p><p>Sea turtle thought it had never seen anything as beautiful.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mingyu_ssi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mingyu_ssi/gifts).



> mingyu_ssi, I know you didn’t ask for this, but I wanted to give some Mingyu and Gyuhao to you. Gyuhao heals my heart (just like chicken heals Joshua’s) and I hope Gyuhao heals yours too.
> 
> There’s also some Wonhui though. Forgive me for being such a trash.
> 
> I have no idea for the title so I just named it 'indah' which is 'beautiful' in Indonesian.

“Why are you spacing out,” the bright orange starfish said to the sea turtle.

The lack of response from the sea turtle made starfish raised his voice. “Ooooi.”

“It’s... beautiful...” Sea turtle finally said.

“Huh, I see.”

Sea turtle said with a voice filled with awe, “What is that?”

“You don’t know?” Starfish gasped. “It’s called _human_.”

Human. So that’s what it’s called, sea turtle thought as it looked at the creature in front of it. The human had four legs just like sea turtle, but the legs were long and separated into tiny sticks at the end. The body was quite long, almost as long as a dolphin. On one end of the body there’s a round part that sea turtle assumed as the head. Some sort of black grass covered one side of the head. On the other side were a set of eyes. Well, maybe they’re eyes. Sea turtle just assumed so because they had the same bulge and eyelids it had. The eyelids of that human were closed shut. 

Sea turtle couldn’t move at the sight.

“Human...” Sea turtle repeated the word slowly as if in a light trance.

“Yep. By the way, it can’t breathe down here so it’s gonna die soon if it doesn’t get out of the water.”

“What??” Sea turtle wanted to scold starfish for not saying that sooner, but it had to prioritize. It swam towards the human and nudged it with its head. Nothing happened.

Sea turtle looked around. Starfish wouldn’t be any help. Neither the little fishes. If only...

And then hope came. First sea turtle sensed it from the way the water felt differently on its skin. Then it entered sea turtle’s vision. Its body moved gracefully towards sea turtle. 

“Dolphin!” Sea turtle let out a cry.

“Hey, sea turtle.” Dolphin replied. 

“Can you help me carry this human above the water?” 

Dolphin turned towards the human and said,”This one? Okay, sure.”

“Thank you!” said sea turtle. 

Dolphin touched the human with its nose and got in on his back. Then it swam above, towards a dark spot on the surface. Sea turtle following right behind. 

“Why are we heading there? What is that?” asked sea turtle.

“That’s a ship. Sometimes I have fun racing with it. Anyway, there are humans there. Don’t you know? You should learn more about the world, kid.”

Sea turtle turned to look at the human on dolphin’s back. It promised itself that it will learn more about humans. Especially this one. 

As they reached the surface, sea turtle heard sounds coming from the ship. The other humans. They were looking at their direction. Some started to lower a white thing that floated when it touched the water. 

When the white thing and the humans in it got closer, dolphin said, “Let’s go.”

“But—“

“It’s okay. The human’s safe now.”

Sea turtle followed dolphin back into the water, albeit reluctantly. As it was swimming down, it kept glancing back towards the surface, hoping to see the human for one last time.

**

The knock on the door made Mingyu jumped on his bed. Since yesterday he had been extremely sensitive towards his surroundings. He walked towards the door and stopped right behind it. 

“Who is it?” he asked.

“It’s me,” said a familiar voice. Mingyu felt his shoulders relaxed and opened the door.

The door swung open to reveal a skinny boy with round glasses. He was tall, but still a few centimeters shorter than Mingyu. The boy wore a long sleeved gray sweater. He had a book in his hand (Mingyu had never seen him without a book in his hand). 

Mingyu let the boy inside and sat on the bed. Meanwhile, the boy sat on a chair just beside the bed. 

“Anything new?” asked Mingyu.

The boy shook his head. “I tried to listen to the crew chatting while pretending to read, but I got nothing useful.”

“Wonwoo.” Mingyu looked at the boy straight in his eyes. “We don’t know the culprit’s objective yet. He might’ve pushed me to the ocean to steal my stuffs, or maybe he has a grudge for my family. Or both of ours. Who knows. We know nothing, that’s why it’s better to assume that you might be in danger too.” 

The boy, Wonwoo, looked back at Mingyu and nodded solemnly. “I know. After all, everyone beside the two of us are suspects.”

Mingyu nodded. His face grim. 

“We can think about our next step tomorrow,” said Wonwoo. “How’s your head?” 

Mingyu carefully touched the bandage on his head. “Better.”

“We should change the bandage.” Wonwoo said as he got up from the chair and bent over Mingyu.

“Do you even know a thing about this?” asked Mingyu, doubt clear in his voice.

Wonwoo rolled his eyes. “I can do this.”

A few minutes passed and Mingyu ended up with brand new bandage on his head that kept falling over his eyes. 

Mingyu sighed. 

Wonwoo stuttered, “I-- I’ll call Jun.”

“Good idea. Call your boyfriend.”

Wonwoo quickly said, “He’s not my boyfriend.”

“Okay. Your crush.”

Wonwoo scowled before he turned his head around. Then his eyes stopped at the pillow at the edge of the bed. He took the pillow and threw it to Mingyu. The pillow flew towards Mingyu’s face, but Mingyu caught it easily. Peeking from behind the pillow, Mingyu showed a playful smirk. 

Wonwoo went through the door with a huff. 

**

The next day Mingyu woke up to the sunshine peeking from the small window in his cabin. For a few seconds he lay on his bed, eyes blinking slowly until he’s fully awake. 

Mingyu went out of his room and walked through the hall until he reached the stairs. He climbed to the upper deck. While greeting the crews he met along the way, he strolled until he arrived at the front deck. 

There Mingyu saw the familiar figure of a boy, not much older than himself. The boy had a prominent nose and gentle brown eyes. He showed an amiable smile when he spotted Mingyu. 

“Hey, Jun.” Mingyu greeted the boy. 

“Good morning, Master Mingyu,” replied Jun. Then Jun tilted his head. His eyes looking past Mingyu’s shoulders. “Good morning, Master Wonwoo,” he said.

Mingyu turned his head back and saw Wonwoo, a small smile on his face. 

“Morning,” said Wonwoo.

Head still bending towards Wonwoo, Mingyu showed a smirk. “Morning, Wonwon.”

Mingyu could see Wonwoo’s grip on his book got tighter, but Mingyu knew that there’s no way Wonwoo would threw it to him, no matter how irritated or angry he got. Especially not in front of Jun. 

Wonwoo and Mingyu heard a chuckle. They turned their attention back at Jun.

“Wonwon...” Jun said with a glee on his eyes. The glee soon turned into an apologetic look as he gazed at Wonwoo. 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be disrespectful,” he said in a sincere tone.

“No, it’s okay....” Wonwoo said in a small voice. Mingyu wasn’t sure that Jun could hear it, but it turned out that the words reached Jun’s ears. He saw relief spreaded across Jun’s face.

Jun excused himself to go up the spar and furl the sails, leaving Mingyu and Wonwoo sitting on the deck to enjoy the morning wind and sunshine. Wonwoo had a book in front of his face, but his gaze kept wandering to Jun up at the spar. Mingyu smiled at the sight. His friend could be such a worrywart.

Mingyu moved his gaze towards Jun, watching how the boy moved swiftly up the spar and tied the sails. As he watched Jun, the thought that Jun might be the culprit crossed his mind. He hoped the culprit to be someone else. Wonwoo was so infatuated with Jun, it would break his heart. Mingyu wouldn’t want that. 

After a while, Jun stopped his hands. His eyes was focused to the left side of the ship. 

“They’re coming!” he shouted.

Mingyu turned his head to his left while Wonwoo got up from his seat and moved across the deck to Mingyu’s side. A few seconds after, they finally saw it.  
Streaks of grays were moving in the blue water, close to the ship. Dolphins. They swam along with the ship as if they were having a race. At times they jumped, showing their smooth skin glinting beautifully under the morning sunshine. 

**

“Oi.” Starfish called out to sea turtle who was gazing at the surface. No response.

“Oooooi.” 

The second call made sea turtle turned his head towards starfish. But it still didn’t say anything. 

“...You really want to see that human again, huh?”

Sea turtle nodded its head. 

After mumbling “oh my, oh my”, starfish said, “There _is_ a way that you can see it again...”

In an instant sea turtle’s attention was focused entirely to starfish. 

“How? Tell me, please.”

“You _really_ want to know?”

“Yes.”

“Really _really_ want to know?”

Sea turtle answered by flipping starfish with its head. Starfish turned upside down from the flip. 

“Okay, okay, I’ll tell you! Flip me back!”

Sea turtle did as it was told to. 

After getting back to a comfortable position, starfish said, “Okay, first, get that grass over there.”

Sea turtle didn’t move immediately.

“The grass is important.”

“If you say so...” sea turtle said as it swam towards the sea grass not far from their spot. 

When sea turtle was back with a tuft of grass in its mouth, starfish said, “Good. Now the next step. You have to— Look out!“

Starfish’s words were cut off when a fishing net appeared from behind sea turtle. Sea turtle turned its head just in time to see the fishing net covering its sight.

**

Mingyu spent his morning learning how to clean the deck. At first the ship’s crew tried to talk him out of it. After all, Mingyu was their honorable guest. His father owned the ship (one of many he had) and paid for all of the crews. But Mingyu insisted, saying that he wanted to know as much as he can about the ship industry so that he’ll be ready when he takes over his father’s business. And by that he also meant all about ships, including how the crew maintains it to keep on sailing. 

Mingyu thought that this would be a good way to know more about the crew and maybe eavesdrop a bit of their conversations. 

It’s only been two days since he boarded the ship from Hong Kong when someone knocked his head and pushed him off the ship. When he was rescued later that day, he said that he accidentally hit something and fell off. He didn’t trust the crew. 

Six more days on board until the ship reaches Korea. Mingyu refused to spend those six days while constantly being on alert for the unknown danger. He’s determined to find the culprit and tell him to fight like a man. 

So Mingyu did his best on cleaning the deck while keeping his eyes and ears open for any clues. After he finished cleaning, he heard a shout from the back of the ship. Mingyu went to the source of the shout to find two of the ship’s crew pulling a fishing net onto the deck. 

“We’re having some nice dinner tonight!” a crew exclaimed. The net in front of him filled with fishes. 

“Wait, what’s that?” said Jun, pointing to a corner of the net.

There was something other than fish inside the net. A sea turtle with greenish brown shell. Its head peaking from the net. Somehow there’s a type of sea grass in its mouth. 

“Guess what, we’re also having turtle soup tonight!” the other crew cried in excitement. “You said you like cooking, Master Mingyu. Would you like to give it a try?”

“No.” Mingyu shook his head. “I mean, no, we’re not cooking the sea turtle.” His answer made the crew tilted his head. 

Mingyu put his hands on the net, carefully pulling out the sea turtle. 

“I’m keeping it.”

**

“You’re lucky your flippers didn’t get tangled up in the net ropes.” Mingyu sighed in relief as he examined the sea turtle for physical injuries. He made an assesment list in his notebook and check them one by one. 

“Is it okay?” asked Wonwoo. He was bending his knees until he was on eye-level with the turtle on the table. 

“No signs of physical trauma, and its movements are just fine.” Mingyu put his pen and notebook down. “We need to put it in water to check some more things though.” He walked out of the room and came back not long after with a bucket filled with water.

“What are you going to name it?” Wonwoo asked as he watched Mingyu set the bucket next to the table.

“I’m not going to name it. I’m returning it back to the sea.”

“Oh.”

Wonwoo didn’t say anything else. He watched as Mingyu put the sea turtle into the bucket and peeked inside. 

“Oh no...” Mingyu mumbled.

“What’s wrong?” Wonwoo tilted his head. “Why is it floating weird? Like, diagonally?”

“His ability to float and submerge got affected. If we release it now, it can’t dive back. It’ll stay afloat and the chances are he’ll get struck by ships.” Mingyu scratched the back of his head.

“Can’t you do something?”

“I don’t know how to deal with this. And I doubt we have the facilities for it in this ship.” Despite his words, there’s still determination in Mingyu’s eyes. 

“I’ll go check my books and see if there’s something I can do,” the taller boy said before walking out of the room once again.

Wonwoo took another peek inside the bucket. “Don’t worry, you can count on him,” he said. 

**

Wonwoo let himself in after he knocked Mingyu’s door and announced himself. Mingyu had his back against the door. He was seated in front of his desk, books scattered around him. 

Wonwoo approached Mingyu and asked which books he hadn’t look at. Mingyu gestured to the pile on his left, so Wonwoo took some to the bed and started reading them.

“His name is Minghao,” said Wonwoo, not looking away from the book in his hand.

“What?” Mingyu didn’t look up from his book either.

“The turtle. Jun said it’s a good name.”

“We’re not naming it.”

“You’re not, but I am."

“You do know that we have to release it back to the sea, right.”

“Yes. But if we don’t find the answer to treat him in these books, we’ll have to wait until we land and find someone with the proper knowledge. That means Minghao is sticking with us for the next six days.”

Mingyu sighed and didn’t argue anymore. Wonwoo smiled in victory. For a while they went silent. It was after Mingyu finished his fifth book that he said another word. 

“Six days...”

Wonwoo closed his book and turned his body to face Mingyu. “Yep. Six days in the middle of the sea, with a potential killer and a sea turtle, and no method of contacting the outside world,” he said in an impassive tone.

“You sound so bored,” Mingyu snickered.

Wonwoo rolled his eyes. 

It was then when they heard a shout, followed by sound of people struggling and more shouts. They both jerked at the sound and looked at each other’s faces before storming out of the door. They hurried to the source of the clamor: the bottom deck. 

When they arrived at the end of the deck’s corridor, they saw what was causing the ruckus. Three crew members were stuffed in the middle of the corridor, their hands all tangled over an unfamiliar boy. The boy was tall, skinny and naked; his bones jutting from inside his white skin. The back of his jet black hair ran just above his nape, while the front fell short, revealing a wide forehead. 

The boy was doing his best to let go of his captors’ hands. His lanky arms and legs moved erratically. Despite his looks, it seemed that he was strong enough to make the three crews struggling on keeping him restrained. Mingyu was almost convinced that the boy could actually break free. 

But then the boy stopped still. His head faced towards Mingyu and Wonwoo. Or maybe it was Mingyu. Mingyu saw the boy looking at him with wide eyes. Even while he was being dragged away into a room, he didn’t remove his gaze from Mingyu. 

**

After the ruckus, the unknown boy was taken into a room. Mingyu and Wonwoo heard shouts of the crew interrogating the boy. When the crew came out, they looked confused and alert. They said that they had found out nothing. 

Mingyu and Wonwoo was about to enter the room, but got stopped by Jun who had a tray of food and water on his hands. 

“He might be dangerous,” he said.

Mingyu replied, “You guys have tied him, right? Besides, there’s two of us. It’s fine.”

“And we have to check on Minghao. He’s in that room,” added Wonwoo.

Jun’s face turned pale. “About Minghao...”

Mingyu and Wonwoo perked at his words. They quickly opened the door and stormed inside, Mingyu leading at the front. 

The boy was sitting on one side of the room, hands shackled to a pole behind his back. His feet were also shackled. A piece of brownish rag was draped carelessly over his body.

Mingyu and Wonwoo eyed the boy from the other side of the room. Meanwhile the boy stayed still. His eyes focused on Mingyu, but they were unlike Mingyu and Wonwoo’s cautious ones. Those brown eyes were filled with curiosity and _longing_. 

Mingyu didn’t want to admit it, not even to himself, but Mingyu had seen enough of the longing look for these past few days that there’s no way he won’t recognize it (thanks to his childhood friend and a certain ship crew). That look from the boy made him flushed a bit.

It’s not that Mingyu never had people looking at him with desire. He had the appearance, talents, and position as the successor of a successful company for people to give him that look. 

But this was different. The boy’s gaze was... well, the first word that came into his head was _pure_. Mingyu never had someone who looked at him with such pure longing and it made Mingyu’s face warm.

“He’s staring at you,” whispered Wonwoo to his ear. “Do you think he’s the culprit?”

Mingyu wanted Wonwoo to see his own face when he’s staring at Jun and show him that this is not the look of someone who wanted to push you off the ship. But Mingyu was rational. He knew that there’s a possibility of the unknown boy being the culprit. 

Meanwhile Jun stepped closer to the boy. He took a piece of bread from the tray and took it near the boy’s mouth, but the boy didn’t do anything but stare at Jun in confusion. Jun put the bread back and this time he held out a bowl of water. The boy reacted at the water. His tongue licking his lips at the sight. Jun brought the bowl to his lips and the boy drank, slowly at first, then eagerly. 

Mingyu glanced at the shackle over the boys hands. “Can’t you let him eat and drink himself?”

“I’m sorry, I’m not the one who has the keys,” said Jun with an apologetic face.

“Oh. Forgot about Minghao,” said Wonwoo. He walked to the corner of the room where Minghao’s bucket was. Mingyu followed behind. 

They peeked into the bucket, but there was nothing. Not even water. The bucket was empty.

“Where’s Minghao?!” Wonwoo exclaimed. 

Wonwoo and Mingyu turned back to look at Jun. His face turned pale again.

“Did you know what happened?” asked Mingyu.

Jun opened his mouth but failed to produce any words. It happened several times until he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. 

When he opened them again, he said, “When I came in, the bucket was still there. I was walking towards it when it shook violently. Then there’s a blinding light, my sight was gone for a second. And then...”

Jun glanced at the boy in shackles. Mingyu and Wonwoo raised their eyebrows.

“And then he appeared. The bucket fell, spilling all the water. Minghao was nowhere in sight.”

“Okay. So you’re saying that a sea turtle just transformed into a human being?” said Mingyu with a scoff. 

“I don’t know... I know it’s not possible, but it’s what I saw...” said Jun. Colors hadn’t come back to his face.

Mingyu didn’t push him any further. When he and Wonwoo went back to Mingyu’s room, he put his hands on Wonwoo’s shoulders, gesturing him to sit on his bed. 

Mingyu sat just beside Wonwoo, eyes looking straight at his childhood friend’s. 

“You won’t like what I’m going to say,” he said in a grim tone.

Wonwoo turned his face away, but he turned back when Mingyu asked him so. 

“He could be lying. The boy might be his accomplice. He sneaked the boy inside but things went wrong. It might be why he looked so pale.” 

Wonwoo grimaced at Mingyu’s words but didn’t protest. He was being reasonable.

“It’s just a possibility, okay? Don’t look so bummed. I just wanted you to be careful.”

“I know.” Even so the pained expression didn’t leave Wonwoo’s face.

Mingyu gave him a small smile. “Come on. Let’s hurry and find the culprit so that we can prove his innocence. Okay?”

Wonwoo glanced at Mingyu and tried to reply his smile. His lips only managed to gave a small twitch.

**

Mingyu and Wonwoo continued their investigation by assisting the chef at the kitchen. Mingyu with his affable manner managed to get the chef to talk a lot (besides, the chef was smittened with Mingyu’s cooking skill). He hadn’t gotten any meaningful information yet, but he’s keeping his ears and eyes open.

After dinner, Mingyu and Wonwoo went to the room where the mysterious boy was confined. This time they went with one of the crews, the first mate. They asked him to open the shackles for a moment so that they can let him wear some clothes. The boy was a potential criminal, but they wouldn’t let him die in cold. 

After the shackles were undone, Mingyu bent his knees to see the boy on eye level. The he put a set of clean clothes on the boy’s lap. They’re his clothes, a dark blue trouser and a green long sleeved. 

The boy didn’t move a limb. He just stared at Mingyu. Mingyu cleared his throat. It did nothing. 

“Hello? Aren’t you cold? You can wear those,” Mingyu pointed at the clothes.

The boy glanced at his lap, but then turned his gaze back at Mingyu. 

“Okay, he looks totally clueless. Maybe he can’t understand our language?” said Wonwoo from Mingyu’s back.

Mingyu sighed. He took the long sleeved shirt and tried to show the boy to wear it through gestures. The boy only blinked. Mingyu sighed again.

“Fine,” said Mingyu before bringing the shirt over the boy’s head and his head through the collar. Then he took one of the boy’s skinny arm and put it through the sleeve. The boy looked at how his own arm went through the hole and then looked at Mingyu’s face. He seemed somehow impressed. Then the boy moved his other arm, wiggling it slowly through the other sleeve. After his hand popped out from the end of the sleeve, the boy looked back at Mingyu with a satisfied look. 

The boy looked cute and it made the edges of Mingyu’s lips curving up, but Mingyu quickly stopped himself. 

They’re done with the shirt, but now they had to deal with the pants. Mingyu gestured the boy to stand up. He lifted one of his own legs and demonstrate how to put the leg inside the pants. The boy, who didn’t look as clueless as before, seemed to get the gist and put on the trousers. A bit clumsily, but he managed. Mingyu looked at the boy who was now fully dressed. The clothes were a little too big on him, just as Mingyu expected, but the boy just had to deal with it. 

“Good. So now what are we going to do about Minghao?” asked Wonwoo.

“We’ll search for him again,” replied Mingyu.

“No, I meant the boy.” 

Mingyu turned his head towards Wonwoo and raised his eyebrows.

“We’ve been looking through every corner of this ship and couldn’t find Minghao the turtle.”

“So you decided to buy the idea of him turning into this boy?”

“Well, _no_. I’m just calling him Minghao for the sake of convenience. We can’t call him _the boy_ forever.”

Mingyu huffed. “Admit it. You do believe in that Minghao turned into this boy. You’ve always liked that kind of story since you were kid. After reading your fictions you’d always blabber about how the trees move their branches like hands at night, or how the cuckoo statue in your house would sing when basked in sunset glow.”

“I was a kid! I don’t believe those things anymore! I told you this is just for the sake of convenience.” Wonwoo puffed his cheeks.

Mingyu rolled his eyes and Wonwoo scowled at him. Then Wonwoo decided to ignore Mingyu and walked towards the boy. 

“I don’t know what’s your name, and it seems that you can’t tell us, so I’m just going to give you a new one, okay?” Wonwoo put his right hand on the boy’s chest and said, “Minghao.”

Wonwoo paused for a bit and repeated, “Minghao.”

The boy looked at Wonwoo with blank expression. But then he opened his mouth.

“Uh...” A weak sound came out from his mouth.

Wonwoo gleamed his eyes. “Look at me.” He made sure the boy was looking at his mouth before moving his mouth slowly. “Ming... Hao...”

The boy’s mouth opened and closed a few times, letting out a series of unintelligible noise until he managed to let out a “Ming... Hao...”

Wonwoo grinned at the progress. Then he put his hand to his own chest and teach Minghao to say his name. It took some time too, but finally Minghao managed to pronounce Wonwoo’s name. 

Then Wonwoo gestured Mingyu, who was watching the whole thing silently, to come closer. Wonwoo put his hand to Mingyu’s chest and pronounced Mingyu’s name. 

“Ming... Gyu...” 

Mingyu’s heart gave a slight jump at the voice calling his name.

“Ming... Gyu... Ming... Gyu...” The boy said a few times before breaking into a smile. 

At that moment a thought flashed through Mingyu’s mind. He had never seen anything as beautiful.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY.  
> This is to tell you that this fic isn’t dead. It’s going to take some more time for me to actually finish it. BUT I do know how I’m going with this and that it will take 6 chapters. 
> 
> To mingyu_ssi: Hope you’re doing great ^^

Mingyu didn’t have any choice since Dr. Joshua knocked on his door, his duffel-shaped leather satchel ready in one hand. Thankfully, he didn’t have to be alone with the doctor for more than a few minutes. Soon Wonwoo came to visit, Minghao tagging behind.

“Thank you, Doctor. You really didn’t have to,” said Mingyu after Dr. Joshua had examined his wound and changed his bandage. He gave a smile that he’d practiced during years of attending parties he didn’t actually want to take part in.

Dr. Joshua replied with a sweet smile that went up to his eyes, but Mingyu was in no hurry to judge. After all, he barely knew the man.

“Well, you didn’t visit me yesterday.” If he wanted to give a scolding, he shouldn’t have used such gentle tone, Mingyu thought.

“Because I’m fine.”

Dr. Joshua shook his head and sighed, but he was still smiling. Maybe it’s just the shape of his lips. Made him look like smiling all the time.

“You shouldn’t make light of a head injury.” To that, Mingyu promised that he would go to Dr. Joshua and have his injury checked again. The latter gave a satisfied smile.

The doctor proceeded to pack his tools and it was quiet for a while until he spoke again.

“Mingyu.”

To his name getting called, Mingyu hummed. He waited while carefully observing the other’s side profile.

“Are you sure about how you hit your head?” Dr. Joshua was still facing his bag when he said this.

“Yes, Doctor...”

“Oh, it’s just...” The doctor let his words hang until he finished closing his bag. “...I’ve seen a lot of wounds, you know, and yours look similar to some patients’...”

He finally turned his face towards Mingyu and when he did, Mingyu couldn’t recognize him for a second. The doctor had a look in his eyes that Mingyu had never seen before. It was awfully similar to sadness.

“It looked like you were hit, deliberately.”

They didn’t maintain eye contact more than a split second. Dr. Joshua looked away first, checking the bed and its surrounding in case he missed a few tools.

“What? No, Doctor, I’m pretty sure I’d known if somebody had hit me. It was just me being clumsy.” Mingyu tried to act nonchalantly and he hoped he succeeded. His life as the first son of a prominent businessman included constant real-life-lesson in acting so he shouldn’t have to worry so much.

“Yes, Doctor. Mingyu is so clumsy, it’s amazing he doesn’t trip and fall every ten steps.” Wonwoo added in an act of support, but Mingyu was sure of the teasing tone hidden in his best friend’s voice. He stole a moment to glare at Wonwoo when he caught the eyes of Minghao who was sitting right next. Mingyu was surprised at how fast his own cheeks went warm.

Trying to get his mind back to what’s important, Mingyu looked at Dr. Joshua and a thought occurred to him.

“You said your patients had similar wounds... I thought you work in our Grand Hospital?”

Aside from a huge number of ships, Mingyu’s father also owned a hospital for the upper class. Dr. Joshua was one of its doctors; he was just here on this ship because of Mingyu and Wonwoo (their status required the attendance of a high-class doctor, not the usual ship doctor). This is why Dr. Joshua’s words were odd. _How could people of the high society get wounds from beating?_

Finally, for the first time ever Mingyu saw Dr. Joshua’s smile looking less relaxed. It was only for a second though.

“I had a slight career change.” His smile was back as usual and Mingyu was getting even more uneasy, but didn’t do anything about it until the doctor left.

A good full minute after Dr. Joshua went out of the door, Wonwoo spoke.

“Seungkwan told me.”

Seungkwan, the loquacious cabin boy who also served as the ship’s entertainer during dinner time. The boy could open his mouth and never close it for hours.

“Dr. Joshua’s not in Grand Hospital anymore.” Mingyu waited for Wonwoo to continue as he raised his eyebrows.

“He’s stationed at the harbor.”

The clinic at the harbor. Small and shabby, but filled with patients every day. Mostly townspeople who couldn’t afford better facility at the center of the town. Sometimes also workers from the shipyards lining in the harbor area. Anyway, now that Mingyu knew, the doctor’s words made sense.

He frowned. Thinking about life around the harbor always saddened him. While he enjoyed having his every needs fulfilled, people in the harbor area lived a life of poverty. Although he had never experienced it himself, he had seen how being poor make people angry, desperate. Those emotions could then led to violence.

So he couldn’t help but being sad. He clutched the fabric of his trousers, right above his knees, and stared at it. He didn’t even realize he was staring until Minghao’s face came into his sight.

Minghao was kneeling, his head looking up to Mingyu and for a moment they just looked into each other. Mingyu felt this strange urge to move away _and_ close their distance at the same time. However, Minghao took the first action.

The mysterious boy stretched his upper body so that his head touched Mingyu’s. The left side of his head was rubbing onto Mingyu’s left. He kept moving his head like that, almost like a cat rubbing to his owner.

Despite his face heating up, Mingyu actually felt comfortable with this. He would’ve indulged himself in the sensation a bit longer if he didn’t see Wonwoo half-giggling half-cooing on mute. His best friend’s action made him realize his situation. He didn’t even think when he pushed Minghao away with both hands, sending the latter landing on the floor with his hands and bottom.

Mingyu quickly realized his mistake and scurried to the floor, but Minghao frowned and wouldn’t let Mingyu came near. Minghao went back to Wonwoo’s side and Wonwoo examined his hands, checking if he hurt it when he landed on them. Thankfully there seemed to be no problem. To Mingyu’s distress, however, Minghao wouldn’t stop eyeing him with caution no matter how many times Mingyu apologized. Inside his head Mingyu cursed himself. He was supposed to be skilled in refusing people through courteous ways; the number of suitors in the social world who came to him blatantly was no joke. Yet just now he acted like an uncivilized teenager. He wondered how his skill seemed to let him down after all this time.

 

**

 

Minghao had no idea where he was. After he and Wonwoo left Mingyu, they got into another closed space similar to the one Mingyu was in. Wonwoo let him lie on a huge rock-kind-of thing that was actually fluffy. It has soft layer like the layers Minghao wore over his body, and was long enough to contain all of Minghao’s human body.

He stayed there as Wonwoo sat on another place, a book on his lap. Wonwoo had taught him about ‘book’ earlier, even let Minghao look at some of his, but Minghao soon got bored. Moreover, he was still bothered by what happened with Mingyu. So he decided to leave the fluffy rock and headed out. Wonwoo spoke to him about something. Minghao thought he heard the word “okay.” Even though he didn’t understand, he just smiled. Wonwoo seemed to be relieved and let him out.

And now he’s lost.

This _ship_ (he thought that was what dolphin said) was confusing for Minghao. He found that he could navigate himself better in the much bigger ocean. There were so many things he had absolutely no idea about, and once he realized he was in long, narrow space. It looked like the one near Mingyu and Wonwoo’s confined space, but this place felt hot and stuffy. There’s also this weird noise, like something invisible was trembling around him.

He had no choice but to continue walking, and with each steps, he heard more sounds. He recognized them as human voices, one belonged to that human called “Doctor Joshua.”

_“I wished I had been the one.”_ He heard Doctor Joshua said. _“He deserved it. For what happened to you.”_

The other voice said, _“It’s not him who beat me up.”_

_“Yes, but it’s_ his people _. His kind need to pay.”_

There was only the weird humming noise until the other human spoke again. _“You’re one of them too, Josh.”_

Minghao thought that Doctor Joshua would speak next, but it was the other human.

_“I’m sorry—I—You’re not—“_

_“No, it’s fine. You’re right.”_

_“No.”_

Minghao understood nothing so far but somehow he sensed that this brief silence that followed meant something.

_“You’re not like them. You’re not.”_

 

**

 

Hours before sunset, Mingyu came to the kitchen. Wonwoo and Minghao met him at the kitchen entrance. Even though Minghao didn’t flinch away when Mingyu walked closer, he still gave Mingyu the stare. Mingyu just sighed and didn’t force any interaction. He knew he deserved it.

Seokmin the chef greeted them with his enthusiastic smile. It had only been a few days on the ship but all these time Mingyu had never seen Seokmin out of energy. The chef was even more energetic than Seungkwan (Mingyu had caught the cabin boy whining about his work a few times).

They were cooking soup—correction, Seokmin and Mingyu were cooking. Wonwoo, despite his words, couldn’t even peel the carrots properly so Mingyu told him to just watch. Wonwoo sulked but complied. He stayed at the corner of the room, teaching Minghao names of vegetables and kitchen tools. Mingyu stole glances several times, catching how Minghao blinked at each item and tried to pronounce the names with his adorable, plump-looking lips—

_Whoa_. Mingyu had to shake himself out of his derailing thoughts. He focused his sight on the mushroom in front of him and recited what he was going to do with it; a feeble attempt to get his mind away from Minghao.

It was starting to frustrate Mingyu how Minghao kept occupying his mind. Utterly ridiculous. He was not a believer in things like love-at-first-sight—that was right up Wonwoo’s alley—yet he found himself catching the symptoms. It couldn’t be love, just attraction. That’s more logical—Welp, he just admitted to himself that he’s attracted to Minghao!

Desperate at this point, Mingyu narrated his actions with louder voice. He only realized how ridiculous he must’ve seemed when he heard Seokmin chuckled. The chef gave him that blinding smile of his and joined in the narration, even singing some of his lines. Mingyu laughed and continue the narration, grateful for Seokmin’s sweet nature.

When almost everything was done, Mingyu noticed a small pot at the corner and asked Seokmin about it.

“Oh, it’s for Chan! He can’t eat mushrooms,” explained Seokmin. There’s a fond look in his eyes.

“He’s the youngest here, right?” Wonwoo chimed in from behind, one hand picking up a carrot.

“Yes! Everyone loves him.”

Mingyu could understand. Chan was a bright boy with a bright smile. He had seen how the other crew doted on him. It’s endearing.

“It’s amazing how skilled he is at his young age,” Mingyu expressed his wonder. He remembered how the boy said to him with a huge smile, _“I’ve been at the sea most of my life. It’s my second home!”_ Mingyu believed him since Chan had proven to know all there was to be a reliable navigator.

“He is.” Seokmin looked proud even though the praise wasn’t directed to him. “He’s talented and reliable. Never complaining even though he’s having it rough—I mean, it’s hard enough to support your family, more when you’re getting scammed by your own boss. He had to—“

Seokmin didn’t continue his words. He gaped with wide eyes and Mingyu could understand why. Generally it wasn’t a good thing to complain about your workplace in front of your boss’ son.

“Master Mingyu, I...”

“What do you mean?”

Seokmin stayed silent and averted his eyes.

“Seokmin.” Mingyu said gently but firmly. “Please tell me. I’m not mad at you.” He wasn’t lying. He’s not mad at Seokmin. There are others he felt angry at.

Seokmin glanced at Mingyu once. He still refused to look at Mingyu in the eye, but he opened his mouth.

“Chan is... He’s got his wage delayed many times and when he finally got paid, mostly the money’s been cut. It’s tough since he has to feed his family. He’s thinking of quitting and doing something else but...”

Mingyu kept his demeanor calm but inside he was seething. He had known about this unfair business practice, about the cheating company managers. Since he’s not yet officially a part of the company, he asked his father to do something about it. Apparently his father did nothing. He should’ve known. The man probably thought that it wouldn’t create a problem for the company. The low-status workers couldn’t afford going on strike in this city riddled with employment and poverty problems.

Mingyu hated that his father was a businessman first and foremost. He longed for the day the old man would turn into a human, but Mingyu knew how unlikely it was.

 

**

 

Mingyu put on his mask. He laughed along at Seungkwan’s impromptu comedy act (featuring Seokmin). He joined Jihoon, the ship’s engineer, in watching the supposedly charismatic ship captain, Seungcheol, getting teased by Doctor Joshua and Jeonghan, Seungcheol’s right hand.

He also chatted with Hansol, one of the cabin crew and the only one in the ship who knew him almost as long as Wonwoo. They were not that close, but they used to go to the same school until Hansol’s family went bankrupt. It was awkward at first, seeing Hansol who now worked as one of his father’s employees. Mingyu figured it would be painful for the other if he had acted differently so he tried to be casual. Luckily, Hansol never seemed to mind nor be ashamed of his new predicament. He had this laid back aura that never changed ever since the first time Mingyu met him. Aside from the fact that he called Mingyu as “Master Mingyu” now, talking with him felt no different than during the days they were peers in the eyes of society.

“Wow! How did Seokmin—Wait, nevermind.” Hansol sparkled his eyes at Seokmin’s confusing-but-weirdly-fascinating leg routine. The chef was currently engaged in some kind of dance competition with Seungkwan.

“Let’s not question the details and just accept the world’s biggest wonder, Lee Seokmin.” After Mingyu’s words, Hansol joined him in a laugh. Hansol’s laugh looked unrestrained. Free. Sometimes Mingyu wished he were Hansol. He wondered how was it to live without a care in the world, though of course it was presumptuous of him to assume that Hansol had no worries. Mingyu hated himself for that.

Thankfully the thoughts consuming him were cut short by Hansol’s cheerful, “Ooh, it’s Seungkwan’s turn!”

Seungkwan had this serious look on his face, yet he looked comical because of his absurd movements. He even got the usually calm Jihoon shouting “Shake those booties, Boo!” (well, maybe the alcohol helped) along with (the equally drunk) Chan. As a true entertainer, Seungkwan gave what the audience wanted. Mingyu and Hansol laughed once again as they watched from the side.

“Seungkwan is amazing,” said Mingyu as he tried to calm his laughter.

“He is.”

Mingyu was still wiping some tears from his eyes when he noticed Hansol’s soft expression. Also his _gaze_. Mingyu felt like he was peeking into Hansol’s private moment, he actually blushed a little.

“Amazing.”

The sincere adoration was showing. Once again Mingyu was envious. How did it feel to cherish someone and show it openly like that? As the thought swam inside his head, his gaze slowly wandered around, catching Minghao who was sitting at a corner.

Their gaze met. Mingyu thought Minghao would look away immediately since all indications had been pointing to the fact that the latter was still mad. Yet Minghao didn’t. Maybe he wanted to but couldn’t. It was like the skinny boy was in trance. Mingyu felt warmth bursting in his chest because of this.

He’s still scared so he walked carefully. It was when he’s four steps away from Minghao that the latter removed his gaze. He stared at the bowl in his lap, even after Mingyu took a seat next to him.

Mingyu noticed that Minghao’s bowl was still full.

“You’re not hungry?”

Minghao looked up with this pure, confused look. Mingyu had to fight the urge of squeezing that adorable face.

“Food.” Mingyu pointed to the bowl. “Eat?” He continued by opening his mouth and bringing his fingers close. Minghao followed the movements with his eyes.

Mingyu watched as Minghao lifted the bowl near his face and basically poured the contents to his open mouth. The movement was awkward, as if the boy wasn’t used to moving his limbs. Some of the liquid missed the target and fell onto Minghao’s neck, and eventually his chest.

“No!” Mingyu quickly took the bowl away from Minghao’s hands, putting it on an empty seat. He found Wonwoo’s handkerchief lying nearby along with Wonwoo’s book. He took the piece of clothing to wipe Minghao. Now it’s wet and dirty but Mingyu figured that Wonwoo deserved it for abandoning Minghao to ~~flirt~~ chat with Jun at the other side of the deck.

“Minghao.”

Mingyu wanted to be careful. Even though Minghao didn’t show any hostility when Mingyu cleaned him up, Mingyu was still afraid that Minghao would back away from him again. So he called Minghao’s name gently and slowly picked up the forgotten spoon lying next to Minghao.

“Eat,” said Mingyu as he demonstrated how to bring the spoon into the bowl and then to his mouth. He put the spoon in Minghao’s hand, taking a few moments to correct Minghao’s grip, and guided the latter with his hands. After a few tries Minghao no longer need Mingyu’s guidance. He kept eating until the bowl was empty and Mingyu watched. He had thought of stopping in order to not be a creep, but apparently watching Minghao was not something he could stop doing so easily. Especially that smile after Minghao finished the whole dish. Mingyu wanted to stay like this and look at the amazing view forever.

But of course, forever never happened.

“Shut up!”

It was weird to hear that kind of roughness from Chan. To be fair, Chan’s face was completely flushed; clearly he had drunk more than he could manage.

“Who gave my baby too much drink!” Jeonghan’s shriek pierced the night.

“Oh, knock it off...” Chan struggled when Jeonghan tried to make him sit down. “Stop doing this!”

“Doing what? Taking care of you?”

“You’re my nobody.”

“You’re my precious baby.” Jeonghan said without any hesitation, although he was forced to revise it when Chan growled. “Okay, okay. You’re my brother, with no blood relation, which doesn’t matter because I care. Now let me take care of you.”

Chan blinked a few times, his eyes looked hazy that Mingyu thought he was going to pass out, but Chan stood still. What’s more surprising—no, shocking was more like it—was Chan looking at Jeonghan with coldness in his eyes.

“You can’t even take care of your real brother.”

His voice wasn’t that loud, yet it managed to silence all of the other sounds. Not a single person made a noise. Mingyu noticed that some of the crew were actually gaping at Chan.

As if not caring, Chan continued. “Now he’s dead and Captain lost his lover.”

Jeonghan sprang back, as if touching Chan was like touching a hot coal. His eyes widened in disbelief and pain.

“It was an accident.” The one who spoke next was Captain Seungcheol. His gaze towards Chan was sad. “And you’re drunk.”

Maybe it’s the gentleness in Seungcheol’s voice, or the sorrow in his eyes. All Mingyu knew that Chan went quiet and didn’t struggle when Seokmin put his hands around Chan’s shoulders and ushered him out of the deck.

“I’m sorry, he’s young and drunk. He didn’t mean to make such a commotion.” Seungcheol turned to Mingyu and Wonwoo with an apologetic smile. Maybe he was afraid that they would punish the young navigator.

Both he and Wonwoo told him that it was fine. It made Seungcheol looked a bit relaxed.

“I’m sorry for your loss.” Mingyu said sincerely. But he regretted saying that because it robbed the only bit of relax from Seungcheol’s face. The captain seemed to be trying but could only manage a small, strained smile as he bowed.

Seungcheol left the deck afterwards with Jeonghan. Both looked like they just aged 10 years in a matter of minutes. The other crew busied themselves with cleaning and others, leaving Mingyu, Wonwoo, Minghao in this tense atmosphere.

When they walked past Jihoon to go back to their rooms, the latter said to them.

“I hope you won’t mention this again.”

“Of course. We understand,” said Mingyu. He looked at Jihoon straight in the eye to convey his sincerity. The latter replied his gaze.

“Doyoon... The person Chan mentioned... The employee house had been badly maintained long before it collapsed.”

Jihoon wasn’t glaring at him or anything like that. Yet Mingyu felt guilt creeping up into his chest. He could guess the next words.

“It’s been a problem for some time. Higher-ups only improved it recently. Too late for him.”

Jihoon continued to look at him, face completely inscrutable. Maybe he was making sure Mingyu understand. Mingyu did.

The heaviness that filled Mingyu’s chest since earlier today kept on growing, and now that he was walking through the corridor alone with Wonwoo and Minghao, it was no longer hidden. In front of Wonwoo’s door, Wonwoo stopped to squeeze Mingyu’s hand, while Minghao put his head on Mingyu’s. Mingyu let himself seek comfort in their warmth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> Criticism is very welcomed. This is my first time writing a mystery-ish story and I don't think I've managed so many characters like this since [Fool](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6168208/chapters/14132950) (long, long time ago). I appreciate any comments and criticism so I can learn ^^


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